Fermentation Lead Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Manage, lead and mentor a team of fermentation engineers and scientists in the development and optimization of fermentation processes to produce high-quality products using bacterial and fungal systems.
• Lead project teams and/or manage project portfolios with high complexity using technical expertise coupled with a broad perspective.
• Solve complex engineering and biological problems where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth evaluation of various factors to get to the root cause(s).
• Provide technical guidance and expertise in identifying and troubleshooting fermentation problems.
• Actively participate in the execution of scale-up/scale-down methodology for fermentation processes, including design and analysis of experiments.
• Work collaboratively with functional group leaders and team members to enable efficient execution of projects' objectives.
• Work as an individual contributor to conduct experiments and advance projects. Pursue novel technical ideas aligned with delivering business impact.
• Contribute to strain and process improvement efforts through different methodologies, such as supporting the implementation of evolution screening and small-scale assays.
• Document experiments, deliver technical presentations, and generate progress, technical, legal, and/or regulatory reports.
• Increase level of professional expertise of self and team through scientific literature and network contacts.
• Identify shortcomings in existing research procedures and systems and propose solutions to address them.
  

Requirements:

• Ph.D. degree in relevant Engineering or Biosciences disciplines with at least 9 years industrial experience ORMaster's degree in relevant Engineering or Biosciences disciplines with at least 12 years industrial experience
• ORBachelor's degree in relevant Engineering or Biosciences disciplines with 16 years industrial experience
• 3+ years of experience in people management responsibilities
• Strong microbial physiology skills as demonstrated by publications in peer reviewed journals and/or intellectual property
• Demonstration of exceptional capabilities in educational pursuits and associated work/study programs
• Experience in successfully introducing fermentation products/processes to the commercial scale by working at various scales (shake flask, benchtop, pilot and commercial scales) requiring aseptic conditions/technique
• Experience applying design of experiments and statistical analyses
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Self-starter with good organizational skills, attention to detail, and project leadership experience
• Flexible to work on an agile team in a dynamic environment
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills
• Some travel required
• Position located in Wilmington, DE

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in the enzyme, food, synthetic biology and/or microbiome spaces
• Aerobic and anaerobic fermentation process experience
• Developing and using computer-based models to analyze complex biological systems
• Automation & process control experience is a plus